Report: ad-supported content will soon dominate digital media

The media and entertainment industry will focus on ad-supported content models …

Ad-supported content is where it's at for the next five years, according to new survey results from Accenture. The market research firm surveyed 100 senior executives in the media and entertainment industry as part of its annual Global Media Content Survey in order to get a feel for how they believe digital content is evolving. The ad-based model is apparently more popular among media execs than subscription or even pay-per-view models.

62 percent of Accenture's survey respondents said that they saw content creators focusing on an ad-supported model by 2013. By comparison, 25 percent cited subscription-based models, and only 11 percent named pay-per-play services. Pay-per-download (like most video content offered through iTunes) did not seem to make an appearance in Accenture's survey results, either because the firm didn't ask or because no respondents chose it as a model they believe will dominate in the near future.

Not only will ad-supported content dominate the industry, execs believe that digital advertising will be bigger than traditional advertising within five years. 52 percent of those surveyed said that online advertising will eclipse traditional advertising by 2013, and 62 percent said that content will be supported by multiple forms of advertising. This could range from sponsorships to branded content to targeted search results. "Almost every media company is trying to adapt to the reality of digital advertising as a major source of revenue," wrote Accenture.

Hulu is one of the most prominent
ad-supported video services so far

Of course, media execs talk the talk when it comes to all these ideas to get content online, but are they ready to walk the walk? Not quite—a large majority reported that they don't have all of the capabilities required to get their content onto new mediums. "It is great news that media organizations are developing a consistent strategic view of the key growth areas, but execution is slow," said Accenture digital media head Gavin Mann observed. "[C]ompanies need to implement new digital technologies or be left behind."

70 percent of those surveyed said that they already derive some revenue from new forms of media delivery, so it's just a matter of ramping up to where they think the industry will be very soon. Hulu, for example, seems to be pulling off the ad-supported video model pretty well thus far, although it still faces some heavy limitations on how content can be used. The general Internet-using public loves free stuff, though, and consumers have shown that they're willing to make some concessions if they don't have to pay to get the content they want.

Jacqui Cheng
Jacqui is an Editor at Large at Ars Technica, where she has spent the last eight years writing about Apple culture, gadgets, social networking, privacy, and more. Emailjacqui@arstechnica.com//Twitter@eJacqui